Day 015 - 21 Jul 94 - Page 05
1 Q. Do you draw the conclusion -- first of all, do you draw
any firm conclusion from this paper?
2 A. Well, it is simply re-emphasising the difficulties of
linking dietary fats and the concentration of fat in the
3 diet with the incidence of cancer; in this case it is
bowel cancer. It just demonstrates how complicated the
4 issue is.
5 Q. Could one approach it this way? Could one say to oneself:
"Well, this suggests that in the absence of high fibre
6 dietary fat might be a promoter. On the other hand, if
you take a lot of fibre, then the possible effect of high
7 fat intake is neutralized", could one say that as an
hypothesis?
8 A. There is that conclusion emerging from this work, yes.
9 Q. Or could one say it might be that dietary fat is
irrelevant and what matters is high fibre, because the
10 causes of bowel cancer are not known?
A. Yes, we could say that. But without having read this
11 paper in detail, there is also the possibility that
because one gets more calcium from milk there may be a
12 higher calcium level that is helping to achieve the
results in Finland that they have found here in this
13 paper.
14 Q. Or might it not be the causes of bowel cancer are
something different, and that it happens that high dietary
15 fibre has an inhibiting effect on those other causes?
A. Absolutely.
16
Q. I want you to recall those. I do not want you to look at
17 them. Remember your tables 1 and 2 in your second
report ---
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. -- we looked at yesterday in which you had produced, as it
were, analyses of the calorie, fat, fibre and sodium
20 contents of McDonald's meals?
A. Yes.
21
Q. What I should have asked you (and did not) is what were
22 the data upon which those tables were based? Where did
they come from?
23 A. The analytical data on the foods for the total diet
came from McCance and Widdowson, -----
24
Q. Who are they?
25 A. That is the standard book in this country on the
composition of foods generally. The data on McDonald's
26 came from what is publicly available in their own
publications.
27
Q. What McDonald's has made publicly available?
28 A. That is right, yes.
29 Q. You took McDonald's own figures?
A. That is right, so the calculation I have done could
30 have been done by anybody else.
